Sudden infant death syndrome, commonly referred to by its acronym of SIDS, remains a mysterious phenomenon that can be an overwhelming source of anxiety to parents of newborns. Although the precise source of SIDS continues to elude researchers, it is indisputably true that an occurrence of SIDS will be attended by a cessation in breathing, which is commonly termed apnea. Accordingly, anxious parents often find themselves physically watching over their sleeping babies or listening to baby monitors in the hope of detecting any breathing affectation and preventing that apnea occurrence from leading to a life threatening event.
One knowledgeable in the art will be aware that a plurality of inventors have endeavored to provide means for continuously monitoring an infant's breathing and for triggering an alarm signal in response to a cessation in that breathing. The prior art has disclosed apnea detectors with a wide variety of means for detecting a cessation in breathing. Almost universally, these apnea detectors have been retained adjacent to a child's body by a strap that surrounds the child's torso. Certain of these devices further require that adhesive be interposed between the child's body and a housing of the apnea detector for ensuring constant contact and proper function of the device.
Unfortunately, the apnea detectors disclosed by the prior art suffer from a number of drawbacks. A most basic disadvantage of prior art apnea detectors is that securing the device about a child's torso is a relatively cumbersome task that certainly makes applying the device an unduly laborious that could discourage the apnea detector from being applied at all. Furthermore, strapping such apnea detectors around a baby's waist certainly can lead to discomfort for the child, which can be upsetting both to the child and to the parent. Still further, many prior art apnea detectors require a measure of expertise and a considerable degree of care to ensure that the device is installed properly on a wearer.
Even further still, the retaining straps in prior art devices can become displaced, which can prevent the devices from functioning properly and could pose a danger of entanglement or strangulation to the young, sleeping wearer. This same danger is often unfortunately presented by apnea detectors that employ external wires or leads for their sensing functions, power supply, or the like. Yet further, AC powered apnea detectors could exhibit EMF generation, which also would endanger the subject whom they are intended to protect. On a more mundane level, one will appreciate that many prior art apnea detectors are necessarily expensive to manufacture and thus to buy, which can put them out of reach of many consumers.
In light of the foregoing, it becomes clear that an apnea detector providing a solution to one or more of the aforementioned deficiencies in the prior art would be useful. It is clearer still that an apnea detector presenting a solution to each and every problem left by the prior art while providing a number of heretofore unrealized advantages would represent a marked advance in the art.